1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of discriminating, by a small base station, between an area including the small base station and an area excluding the small base station corresponding to a location of a user accessing the small base station that has a limited area of coverage, such as an in-house area, in a mobile communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A femtocell service has been proposed to enhance an indoor coverage area, enhance a communication quality, and provide various communication services, and the like. A femtocell may generally correspond to a femto base station (hereinafter, referred to as a small base station) installed in a house, may have a transmission range of about 10 to 20 meters (m), and may be characterized by a low price, a direct installation by a user, a low transmission power, and the like. Here, the small base station may provide a mobile communication service through a connection to an Internet based backhaul such as a digital subscriber loop (DSL), a cable modem, and the like.
Discriminating between an area including the small base station and an area excluding the small base station corresponding to a location of a user accessing the small base station may correspond to a significant technology since a quality of service for users located in a space excluding the small base station may be greatly lowered by a power loss when a signal power transmitted during a service to users passes through an outdoor wall. That is, the small base station may efficiently control power by discriminating between an area including the small base station and an area excluding the small base station corresponding to a location of a user being provided with a service. To resolve issues described in the foregoing, a conventional art may discriminate between a user located in a space including the small base station and a user located in a space excluding the small base station using a global positioning system (GPS) function of a user terminal. However, this may require an additional hardware and communication function at a user (or terminal) side.